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IDAHO FALLS — The EastIdahoNews.com team is busy helping a local man gift $500,000 this holiday season! Secret Santa is a real person who wants to remain anonymous and wants to help as many people as he can.
We will be surprising deserving people and families every day from now until Christmas with gifts unique to their circumstances.
Maila Galo’s husband, Ben Galo, was killed unexpectedly on Aug. 20 in a construction accident. The couple had been married for nearly 20 years and now Maila is left alone to raise and provide for their five children. The family then had to move in with Maila’s brother’s family to help make ends meet in the absence of Ben’s salary.
With the move, the children started new schools the day after their dad’s funeral and there are now 19 people living in that one home. Just days ago, Malia’s oldest son left for a Latter-day Saints mission in Omaha, Nebraska. He opened his mission call a few days before his dad’s accident and will now be gone for two years. This is a major expense and another big adjustment for this single mom.
Maila is collecting very little from Ben’s accident insurance and tries to live so humbly as she cares for her children ages 16, 14, 12, and 7.
Secret Santa asked the East Idaho News elves to surprise Maila at her brother’s home and, along the way, the crew picked up American Idol star David Archuleta so he could bring the spirit of Christmas through music.
Watch the video above to see the surprise!
